Tough day for my Colts, but Andrew Luck drew a short straw by having to start his career against that Bears defence. Bears will be real good this year if they can keep Cutler upright - and healthy. As for the Colts...well, I think six wins would be a good first season for Pagano, Grigson, and Luck.

No question the shock of the day came down in New Orleans. Going to watch that game tomorrow to see just how the Redskins won it.

Can't believe people are already talking about RGIII's big day in New Orleans proving he was a better pick than Luck. That's not a conversation we can even have. The Saints defence is average at best and has to deal with key guys who were missing/hadn't practiced. I'll make no judgements about RGIII until I watch the game, but there is nothing inherently impressive about torching the Saints defence. And Andrew Luck? The Bears are a top-five defence easily, and he had near constant pressure in his face from Peppers, Melton, and the like, and the Bears secondary is the most underrated in football. He made some rookie mistakes, no doubt, and some of his passes floated too much which you can't get away with in the NFL, but I saw a great deal of positives from Luck's performance against a pretty ferocious Bears defence.

Meanwhile I'm watching 49ers-Packers, and it's gonna be a lot of fun watching San Francisco this year. Man, can they play defence. And a great physical run by Gore on that last drive for the TD. Packers have looked flat and out of rhythm on offence, and I have many concerns about their defence. Too many broken tackles, and nobody knew where they were supposed to be in coverage on a play which allowed Randy Moss to be wide open in the end zone for the first score. Terrible.

Edit: Panthers-Bucs just ended; Bucs win 16-10. Key stat that jumps out of me is the Panthers running game. Best running QB in football, two great running backs in Williams and Stewart and the human bowling ball Mike Tolbert. All that talent, and they had 10 rushing yards on 13 carries. Shocking; maybe we should be paying attention to this Bucs run defence.

I'm looking forward to the Jets season. While I don't think the wildcat offense will do very well for them, it will be fun to watch.

The Packers got a gift on that punt return. This officiating was almost as comical as pro wrestling. It was just as bad in other games today.

Coming off of that I thought they had the momentum to take it back. But then, pick.

Then they got NaVorro Bowman'd. Then they got Frank Gore'd.

Yeah, easily the two biggest ref screw-ups were the multiple misses in the 49ers-Packers game and the messed up end to the Seahawks-Cardinals game. Sounds like many of the other games were pretty well called; just a shame that these two games really seemed to be adversely affected by the replacement refs.

I'm looking forward to the Jets season. While I don't think the wildcat offense will do very well for them, it will be fun to watch.

The Packers got a gift on that punt return. This officiating was almost as comical as pro wrestling. It was just as bad in other games today.

Coming off of that I thought they had the momentum to take it back. But then, pick.

Then they got NaVorro Bowman'd. Then they got Frank Gore'd.

Yeah, easily the two biggest ref screw-ups were the multiple misses in the 49ers-Packers game and the messed up end to the Seahawks-Cardinals game. Sounds like many of the other games were pretty well called; just a shame that these two games really seemed to be adversely affected by the replacement refs.

There weren't too many screw-up in Jets/Bills. On the part of the refs, that is. Fitzpatrick was a complete disaster. And Rich Gannon used irony is every situation where it didn't work.

Man I'm disappointed at that Panthers loss. I was anticipating an easy win and we were shut down by the Bucs' defense, especially our running game. Teams have had the whole offseason to study and plan for Cam Newton. We are going to have to change it up and Cam needs to make better decisions.

All that money the Bills sent in the offseason to bolster that defence, and they allow the Jets - who did nothing in the preseason - to scorch them for 48 points? Never can guess what'll happen in the NFL.

And how about a shout out for Adrian Peterson? Nine months ago he broke both his ACL and his MCL. He was a huge question mark for the Vikings all through the offseason. He starts week one and scores two touchdowns on the ground and rushes for just under 100 yards. Such an amazing player; been the best running back in football ever since he was drafted.

I thought people were overreacting about the ref situation during the preseason (because it's always the ref's fault), but goddamn, the officiating during 49ers and Packers was godawful. The kick by Akers was amazing though, looked exactly like a video game kick, bounce and all.

Watching Peyton command the field once again was probably the best part of today for me. He certainly proved that he's still the best, and watching him uncover blitzes and fuck over the Steelers D on the fly was a special treat that no other QB can match.

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

@ajamafalous: Yeah Broncos! I'm so fucking excited that we have Peyton Manning this year.

I was on a high for like three days straight when they signed him. The combination of signing Peyton and trading Tebow made for the greatest offseason I've ever been witness to. The fact that he doesn't even look any worse for wear is just a bonus. And goddamn does it feel great to see the Broncos look good again. Their defense looked good for the first time in years. It's looking like they'll rival the Plummer years and the Elway years.

Meanwhile, this is the Texans' year. Their defense is absolutely insane and their offense is killer. If the offense stays healthy they'll make a run for sure. I mean, fuck, they won one playoff game last year and outplayed the Ravens on both sides of the ball in the other with a backup rookie QB.That's ridiculous.

I haven't been this excited for a football season in about seven or eight years.

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

It'll be entertaining to watch the wildcat offense, but I don't think they'll do very well this season. Especially with their schedule. 6-10, maybe 7-9 if they get lucky.

Watching Peyton for the first time in over a year was a true joy. Even though he is wearing a Broncos jersey, I will be rooting for him this season.

The Patriots looked, well like the Patriots normally do. Except they also remember every once in a while that you can actually run the ball. Also Wes Welker didn't even play a good number of snaps for some reason.

Should be an interesting season for the Colts. Luck looked like a rookie in his first game, but away against a tough Bears D he showed promise. Looks like a 4-12 type year as expected. Hopefully Luck will play well and develop during the season.

PS: Call me a grammar Nazi, but since this is a season long thread I feel compelled to point out that the disclaimer in the OP should read "By no means" or "In no way", not "By now way".

This is probably the first season in a long time that I actually feel confident about the Broncos making/winning in the playoffs. It's been a long ass time since we've had a decent quarterback (I miss you Jake) and a fairly solid linebacking corps. The only real draw back that I can see is the safties for the Broncos seem pretty meh.

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

It'll be entertaining to watch the wildcat offense, but I don't think they'll do very well this season. Especially with their schedule. 6-10, maybe 7-9 if they get lucky.

Watching Peyton for the first time in over a year was a true joy. Even though he is wearing a Broncos jersey, I will be rooting for him this season.

I'm a Jets fan, but I think they can be a 10-12 win team this season. If you just give them the wins against the bad teams (Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Seahawks, Cardinals, Jaguars, Titans), that is 9 wins right there. Their defense is going to be in the top 5, and if Sanchez can finally have a good season, they're going to get some wins.

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

It'll be entertaining to watch the wildcat offense, but I don't think they'll do very well this season. Especially with their schedule. 6-10, maybe 7-9 if they get lucky.

Watching Peyton for the first time in over a year was a true joy. Even though he is wearing a Broncos jersey, I will be rooting for him this season.

I'm a Jets fan, but I think they can be a 10-12 win team this season. If you just give them the wins against the bad teams (Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Seahawks, Cardinals, Jaguars, Titans), that is 9 wins right there. Their defense is going to be in the top 5, and if Sanchez can finally have a good season, they're going to get some wins.

I don't think you can just give them a win against the Seahawks or the Jags or even the Colts. Sanchez did look impressive against the Bills, but it's too early to tell if it'll last. They did go 0-4 in the preseason

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

It'll be entertaining to watch the wildcat offense, but I don't think they'll do very well this season. Especially with their schedule. 6-10, maybe 7-9 if they get lucky.

Watching Peyton for the first time in over a year was a true joy. Even though he is wearing a Broncos jersey, I will be rooting for him this season.

I'm a Jets fan, but I think they can be a 10-12 win team this season. If you just give them the wins against the bad teams (Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Seahawks, Cardinals, Jaguars, Titans), that is 9 wins right there. Their defense is going to be in the top 5, and if Sanchez can finally have a good season, they're going to get some wins.

I just watched the Jets game again, man did they look good today. I still don't believe in Shonn Greene and wish the Bills didn't score those garbage points, but I'm excited to see how they handle the Steelers next week.

Also, I think we all forgot the performance that Peyton puts on when he plays. I really hope I get to see a lot more Broncos games this season. He's going to light it up.

It'll be entertaining to watch the wildcat offense, but I don't think they'll do very well this season. Especially with their schedule. 6-10, maybe 7-9 if they get lucky.

Watching Peyton for the first time in over a year was a true joy. Even though he is wearing a Broncos jersey, I will be rooting for him this season.

I'm a Jets fan, but I think they can be a 10-12 win team this season. If you just give them the wins against the bad teams (Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Seahawks, Cardinals, Jaguars, Titans), that is 9 wins right there. Their defense is going to be in the top 5, and if Sanchez can finally have a good season, they're going to get some wins.

I don't think you can just give them a win against the Seahawks or the Jags or even the Colts. Sanchez did look impressive against the Bills, but it's too early to tell if it'll last. They did go 0-4 in the preseason

Games they should win still. You're right, it's still too early to tell, but I still think they're better than last season (8-8). The preseason never really matters, plus I think the 48 points closes that argument, hopefully anyways.

@PeasantAbuse: Time will still tell with Wilson and sure, they have talent, but I don't think that team makes 8 wins. That's what's great about football though, any given Sunday.

Alright, Raiders lose. As always, zero discipline. The Chargers didn't beat the Raiders, the Raiders beat the Raiders. But what else is new. I was hoping it would be different. New head coach, surprise new WR, but it's still the same old Raiders. This is the one, the ONE game they have to win every year. They can go 2-14 for all I care, as long as those two wins are against the Chargers.